31. Whispers of Requiem

In the early hours, Elara sat in the command chamber, the room dimly lit by shifting holo-screens. The phrase "Project Requiem" pulsed like a heartbeat in the encrypted code Lyne decrypted overnight.

"It's not just a name," Lyne whispered, watching the strings of code cascade. "It's a trigger embedded in multiple AI cores and memory archives. If activated, it could erase, maybe even rewrite, everything."

Damien leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Sounds less like a project and more like a reset button."

Elara exhaled slowly. "Or a mass amnesia weapon."

Jeren, who'd been unusually quiet, stepped forward. "My sister... before the takeover, she worked on an experimental consciousness archive. She called it Requiem. I thought it was just theory."

Silence fell.